In the last post we started to talk about how divorce can put many, many things on our plates. There are, of course, the emotional ramifications of a marriage ending. But there are also the more “administrative” concerns when a marriage ends. When you share money and property with someone there is of course the process that must be gone through in order to separate ownership.
In the last post I began to talk about my divorce and how the ending of my marriage brought with it things that I had never considered. Sure we had to deal with the ownership of our home, vehicles, and bank accounts, but I also had to consider those insurance policies that I had essentially taken for granted. We both had life insurance in place so the only thing I had to change on my life insurance policy was the beneficiary. But I did not have disability insurance – something that my ex-husband had in place so that if he was hurt or ill and unable to return to work we would be financially protected.
But now that I am on my own I had to consider disability insurance for myself. Who would protect me or my lifestyle if I suddenly found myself injured in an accident or ill for a long period of time? I needed to step up to the plate and begin exploring disability insurance plans so that I could have peace of mind that I would be protected – and my finances would be protected – no matter what.
Disability insurance turned out to be easier to find than I thought. I worked with a solid professional who was able to walk me through the many disability insurance plans to find something that worked for my situation, so that I could begin the process of getting back on my feet.
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No one expects to get married and then one day see the marriage end. What we expect is to commit ourselves to another person and have it remain that way throughout the entirety of our lives. Unfortunately, as the statistics clearly show, marriages end every day. And more than just the emotional ramifications that are associated with such situations is the logistical ramifications. The fact of the matter is that when you marry someone you are essentially tying your life to theirs and there are bank accounts that are shared, insurance that is taken out, houses and businesses that are in both names, and so forth.
So when a marriage ends all of these things must be considered. Things are separated including bank accounts, deeds to homes, and the like. And, consequently we need to examine those policies that we may have had together and reassess them in terms of having single policies. There’s a lot of paperwork and administrative concerns that must be addressed when it comes to divorce – over and above the emotional drama that always ensues. It’s a lot for anyone to have on their plate.
When I got divorced I remember feeling completely overwhelmed by the number of things that I had to do when all I really wanted to do was go to bed. Things that I never gave much thought to – if ever – were suddenly needing attention, requiring me to make decisions. It was exhausting.
One of the things that I never even realized we had was disability insurance. Of course, now that I look at it closely it makes perfect sense that my ex-husband had a disability insurance policy in place. He was the larger earner in the household; if something happened to him we would be without his paycheck. While his life insurance policy covered us if he were to pass away, disability insurance covered us if a sickness or injury stopped him from earning a paycheck.
More in the next post about how I got through my divorce and put my own separate things in place including disability insurance.
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In the last post we started talking about the importance of having disability insurance as protection and peace of mind so that a car accident will not financially devastate your life.
Consider Lynn, a single mother of three who was the sole breadwinner in her household. Not only was Lynn working a full time job but she was paying for child care in order to be able to work the hours she needed to work. Like most American families every paycheck was stretched to its limits in an effort to keep up with the bills associated with everyday life. There were no extras and Lynn and her family walked a very fine line of barely making it; something that is all too common these days.
On an average day, with no hint of bad weather or anything out of the ordinary, Lynn was struck by an out-of-control driver and her car flipped while she was going 50 mph on her way to work. Her car was totaled but even worse was the fact that Lynn sustained life-threatening injuries in this accident and received treatment in the hospital – including rehabilitation – for nearly two months.
Following her return home, however, life was very different, as she was unable to walk on her own and had to be assisted in basic functions. Lynn was not only unable to return to work in the short term but she needed help to meet the needs of her family on a day to day basis. If she did not have the disability insurance policy she had purchased just a few short months before her accident her family would have been financially unable to recover from this event.
But because of the disability income insurance that she had Lynn was able to continue meeting her financial obligations so that she could concentrate on her recovery.
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Car accidents are certainly not expected events. We may head out in the morning as usual and everything will be going along smoothly until a mistake on the road – or something completely out of anyone’s control – causes a series of events could very well alter someone’s life.
Certainly no one anticipates such an event but as responsible people we prepare for the possibility of something like this happening – so that we are financially and physically protected. Car insurance is something that is required but law but it is also something that insulates us and our families from the financial ramifications of a vehicular accident, regardless of who is to blame.
But far too few of us take the next steps in protecting our families from the possibilities of long term consequences of a car accident. The fact of the matter is that over one-hundred people are killed each and every day on U.S. roadways; our busy lives and crowded highways have exacerbated an already significant problem.
The best that we can do in order to avoid injury or death in a vehicular accident of our own is to take control of our own driving and be on the defensive as much as possible against other drivers who could cause us harm. Observing the rules of the road is important in order to protect our own safety and the safety of other drivers. But there are other steps that we can take in order to protect ourselves financially if we do sustain injuries – including disability insurance.
Disability income insurance is a provision put into place for those who may find themselves out of work due to an illness or injury. Disability insurance plans are available to run the gamut of possibilities including a short term absence from work, a gap policy that covers a waiting period that may be built into company-sponsored disability insurance plans, or longer term policies that cover policyholders who are permanently disengaged from their jobs because of a sustained illness or injury.
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The current economic crunch in this country has escaped no one’s attention. Most of us are glued to our televisions and our newspapers so that we may learn the latest that is being done to rescue the nation from this downslide. In businesses across the country this news is not news at all; they have been feeling the ramifications of the economy for some time. And for individual households the impact has been just as significant as we look for ways to stretch our dollar as far as they will go.
Now is most certainly not the time to be conservative with the protective financial layer we put in place for ourselves. Retirement accounts should not be touched – as scary as the market may seem – because the penalties for early withdrawal are severe; life insurance should be kept current to protect our families; and disability insurance plans should be thoroughly explored so that a change in our circumstances does not threaten to financially destroy us.
Most of us are barely making it by with our paychecks these days. Could you imagine a scenario where you didn’t have a paycheck at all? When someone becomes sick or injured and their subsequent disability prohibits them from returning to work (in the short term or even permanently) the loss of a paycheck can be devastating for a household that counts on every penny for its survival. With disability insurance, however, earners are essentially protecting their paycheck by putting measures into place that will payout if their paycheck is suddenly and unexpectedly taken from them due to a disability.
It may seem counterintuitive to take more money out of your pocket in this current economic climate. But in reality it is makes the most sense to protect your family through disability insurance – now, more than ever.
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In the last post, we talked about how pregnancy and delivery – something that working women often take months off of work from as they bring their babies home and settle into a routine – can quickly become the unexpected when moms find themselves facing a longer than normal recovery.
Pregnancy and delivery should be the most natural thing in the world but the fact is that sometimes things go wrong. When women find themselves in a tough situation and facing more recovery than they anticipated, many things cross their minds. The paramount concern, of course, is the care for their newborn; as well as the care for other children in the home. Moms being out of the equation – even for the shortest period of time – can render a household out of commission.
Then there is, of course, the financial concern especially if the mother was planning on going back to work after the traditional six-eight week maternity leave but finds herself unable to do so. The loss of a paycheck can financially devastate a family under normal circumstances but if you add a new baby and a struggling economy to the equation, the plot thickens considerably.
With disability insurance in place, however, women who have just given birth can concentrate on their family and on their recovery without having financial concerns get in the way. Disability income insurance can make up for lost salaries and keep a family financially above water until such time that those who are disabled can return to work. And if they are unable to return to work in any capacity for the foreseeable future, long term disability insurance will be there for policyholders to depend upon.
Some companies offer disability insurance plans in which employees can take part. But privately purchased disability insurance often provides the most options in terms of amount of coverage, policy payout wait times, and length of coverage.
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When we are younger we see pregnancy only as a natural thing; something that happens when we want it to, goes off without a hitch, and results in a normal labor and delivery, and a healthy baby. But as we get older and we begin to hear the stories of our friends and peers, we discover that the whole process is just not that simple. First off, how many people can we name that have struggled with infertility? Secondly, most of us know at least a handful of women that have had anything but a smooth pregnancy. Finally, labor and delivery may be natural but it’s also fraught with danger. There are so many possible things that could go wrong during delivery.
Most of the time, because of the medical advancements that we have available to us and the state of our healthcare system, women – even those who face a difficult labor and delivery – are fine in the end and wind up delivering completely healthy babies. But in some cases, while the baby is fine, the mother faces a difficult recovery. And this is where expectations can easily go off the tracks.
The truth is that as much as we are emotionally invested in the process of having a baby there are other considerations as well. As much as we do not want to think about finances during such a wonderful time, the fact remains that we all have bills to pay and if the mother is a working woman she has made arrangements to be away from her job for a period of time. If, however, the actual process of labor and delivery renders her disabled for an extended period, private disability insurance can help ensure that finances are not something that anyone has to consider with fear and loathing.
In the next post, we’ll continue to talk about how disability insurance can protect a family following pregnancy and delivery.
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Debt has become something that most of us are all too complacent about; the average American, in fact, carries an average of $9,000 in credit card debt – something that is born from our inability to pay for those things we want in cash. With the economy struggling even more so today, more and more of us are finding ourselves in the position of carrying significant debt. It is, unfortunately, something that many of us just accept as a by-product of the economy. And we hope that by at least continuing to make minimum payments every month – until we are able to make some headway with a bulk amount of cash at some point – we can stay in the good graces of the credit bureaus and one day find financial independence.
This plan is all well and good on paper until there is a sudden and dramatic loss of income, such as what can happen when an earner find themselves out of a job due to illness or injury. In that kind of situation, without comprehensive disability income insurance in place, a consumer can very easily find themselves overwhelmed and eventually in default.
Disability insurance can put protective measures in place so the loss of a job doesn’t have to necessarily mean the end of the world financially. When an injury or illness causes someone to be identified as disabled and someone who cannot continue in their present line of work, the stream of income ceases. In a perfect world, the injured or ill person has a spouse that is able to make up for this loss of income; but often this is not the case and families wind up turning to savings and investments in order to fill their financial need.
With disability income insurance, however, policy payouts begin after the policy-stipulated waiting period and policyholders are able to meet their financial responsibilities – including debt payments – even with the loss of their paycheck.
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Most of us who have children begin to put away money for college following their birth. We hope to build a substantial enough nest egg that they can go away to school and study what they want without the burden of student loans on their shoulders when they graduate. But it’s amazing how quickly those hard earned savings can disappear if you do not have the proper tools in place to protect yourself and your family.
Consider, for example, those who have opted not to purchase private disability insurance or take part in company-provided disability insurance plans. Essentially this makes you vulnerable to any possible illness or injury that may take you out of work. And how quickly would most of us go under without even our next paycheck?
An illness that requires a hospital stay, ongoing treatments, or renders someone unable to do their job in the short term or the long term can financially bury a family. An accident that results in an absence or permanent separation from work can mean a complete financial – as well as personal – transformation. How many of us have the resources available to us to be able to survive such an event in our lives?
What generally happens with those who do not have disability insurance is that once all vacation, personal, and sick time is taken from work, they turn to their savings accounts, investments, retirement funds, and even their children’s education savings. These are desperate times and they call for desperate measures. A child’s education could easily be sacrificed to save a family from financial ruin.
With disability insurance in place, however, parents do not have to turn to such extreme measures. Their policy payouts will account for their missing income and keep their family afloat during this period of time so that savings, the family home, and investments are secure.
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In the last post I talked about how I started my career with little money and only a desire to stretch my paycheck as far as it would go. Like most young people in this position, I was largely unconcerned with those things I considered to be “down the road” financial decisions – retirement, disability, increased life insurance, etc. It wasn’t until my frank sit-down with a financial planner that I discovered just how vulnerable I was without having these important things put in place. And so, following our meeting I set about to make more responsible financial decisions including contributing to my company’s 401k plan, choosing the best health insurance plan available to me, increasing my life insurance, and choosing disability insurance.
In terms of disability insurance, I opted to take part in one of my company’s disability insurance plans; but I also purchased private disability insurance in order to make sure that any gaps were covered. It turns out that this decision saved my family significant financial stress.
About four years after I got disability insurance – I was now married with two small children – I was in a car accident that left me severely injured. I was in the hospital for six weeks and faced many more months of intensive rehabilitation. Work was out of the question and I quickly enacted my disability insurance policy through my job. But it turns out the wait time for policy payments was several months and without that money my family would be behind in everything from the mortgage to the utilities. My husband, who was taking significant time off from work himself, was barely able to cover the bills.
But our private disability insurance policy had a much shorter wait time and we wound up starting to receive payments within a few weeks. This covered the time that I had to wait for my company’s disability insurance to kick in.
Today I am back to work and feeling much stronger. But I know that without that disability insurance policy my family would have had double the stress – caring for me and dealing with the repercussions of our financial situation. Thankfully, because I made a good decision, that was not our story.
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